Managing the Social 'Power' Distance

Naive leadership makes a jumble soup of power relationships within the labrynth. Either it ends up eroding the power differential so badly that leadership does not command respect & thereafter is unable to take any hard decisions OR it widens the 'power differential' - the huge power distance between leadership & the team such that it ends up alienating, disconnecting & disengaging the work teams. Wise leadership has magical touch with the team's social power distance....a unique situation where the group's social distance with leadership is too close and yet in a way far, is reverred but yet not feared. All a function of time, issue and discretion Rightly, when I look back, my first exposure to emotional intelligence in leadership can best be encapsulated in the form of a smart leadership thought which implies that an inspirational leader knows when to put his/her arms around others and yet not have them dare to put their arms around him !!! That is the wisdom of leadership...that is what makes or breaks leadership's ability to 'influence'. Just as I was about to publish this post this morning, I coincidentally stumbled across an article in ET Panache. Couldn't be a better doodle than that. So I attach it for your convenient reading.